Council seeks to determine position’s workload and how to allocate funds for salary
The Arts and Science Federation of Associations (ASFA) passed a motion to begin the hiring process for its first Loyola campus office coordinator during a council meeting on Oct. 12.
Prior to the motion, introduced by liberal arts councillor Robert Young, several candidates interested in the position approached executives. According to interim VP finance Francesco Valente, one candidate in particular, who was recommended by downtown office coordinator Chris Lechkobit, is “extremely qualified.” However Valente said this candidate is “a close friend of all the executives, which I think is a kind of a big conflict of interest.” The candidate’s name was withheld from the meeting.
The motion to being an official hiring process and put a callout to council was intended to avoid this conflict of interest and select the candidate who was best suited for the position, according to interim ASFA president Julia Sutera Sardo. Hiring decisions are made independently from the council by the hiring committee, which consists of the president, VP internal, VP finance and the Sir George Williams campus office manager.
Sutera Sardo said the hiring committee planned to consult legal counsel on the contract, and to determine how many hours a week an office manager needed to be present at the Loyola campus before signing a contract with any candidate. A motion was passed to allow interim VP of external affairs and sustainability Bianca Bruzzese to fill the position for two weeks on a volunteer basis to determine how many office hours are necessary at the Loyola campus.
The motion also included a review of the annual budget before the next meeting to determine where extra funding for the new coordinator’s salary could be taken from. According to Valente, the $1,500 originally set aside for the coordinator’s salary would likely not be enough to pay the person $15 an hour for the whole year, as per ASFA policy.
A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that the hiring process for the Loyola office coordinator position had already begun and that the ASFA website indicated a candidate had been hired. The Concordian regrets the error.
Photo by Alex Hutchins
